Meet of Champions shows speed
Four Pea Ridge track athletes came back from the Arkansas Overall Meet of Champs with eight medals in the final Arkansas Activities Association sanctioned team track and field meet of the 2021 season.
Sprinter Patrick Elliott came back the big winner as he cut a wide swath through the MOC field, coming home with four medals. The Meet of Champs features the individual champion in every event from the six classifications state meets, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A. In addition, they also invited several other athletes who recorded top times overall in the various state meets but did not win a gold medal.
Elliott sped to a very fast time of 10.86 in the 100-meter, just .04 seconds behind the winning time of 10.82 recorded by Woyn Chatman of Little Rock Central who won in 10.82. Elliott then ran a blazing time of 49.87 to become the first Blackhawk to slip under 50 seconds in the 400-meters, earning him the silver medal behind Adrian Carraco of Beebe who won in 49.0. The junior speedster then captured his third individual medal with a fifth place finish of 22.55 in the 200-meters, with Jakeylen Haney of Little Rock Parkview winning it in 21.83.
Elliott then was a part of the Hawks’ 4x400-meter relay that took sixth overall with a season’s best 3:30 clocking. Elliott joined Josiah Small, Bric Cates and Cade Mann in finishing behind four 6A schools and a 5A school with Rogers High School winning in 3:23.06.
Josiah Small very nearly broke the 2-minute barrier in taking eighth in the 800-meter run, running the two-lap race in 2:00.34. Tate Smithhart of Vilonia won the race in 1:56.7.
Numerous Blackhawk athletes were invited to the meet, which was held Saturday, but chose to attend graduation, which was also Saturday.
Arkansas is one of the very few states that has a track and field competition for the best of the best. To be included into the field is an honor unto itself and to bring home hardware is a major accomplishment.
The very last track and field event for the year will not be a team competition, but rather an event for multi-talented track and field athletes, the annual Arkansas Decathalon/ Heptathlon. It is a twoday event with the boys competing in 10 events (100-meter, 400-meter, 1,600-meter, 110-meter hurdles, pole vault, long jump, shot put, discus, triple jump and high jump) with the girls competing in a seven-event competition. The girls compete in the 200-meter, 100-meter hurdles, 800-meter, shot put, discus, long jump and high jump.
The multi-events will be held in Fayetteville May 1920 at the Fayetteville High School track. Senior Blakelee Winn finished third as a sophomore and is considered as one of the favorites in 2021.